The Best Beef Stew Ever Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, toss beef and 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons flour and paprika. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and toss to coat. , In a Dutch oven, brown beef in oil over medium heat. Stir in tomato paste, herbes de Provence and garlic; cook until fragrant and color starts to darken slightly. Add wine; cook until mixture just comes to a boil. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon rosemary and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is almost tender, about 1-1/2 hours., Add potatoes, onions and carrots. Cover; simmer until meat and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes longer., Discard bay leaves. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 2 tablespoon flour. Add cold water and vinegar; stir until smooth. Stir into stew. Bring to a boil; add peas. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. If desired, top with additional fresh rosemary.

Steps:

• Put flour, salt and pepper in a large ziploc bag.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven.
• Place meat in bag with the flour and shake until well coated.
• Shake off meat pieces and add them to the oil and stir until slightly browned, Add remaining flour from the bag and the finely chopped onion.
• Stir until well browned.
• Add finely chopped carrot and next 4 ingredients.
• Cover and cook over low heat for 1 1/2 hours (stirring every 15 minutes).
• Add diced potatoes, carrots, and onions, cook for another 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Steps:

• Heat oil and brown meat well.
• Add garlic and saute lightly and then add wine, beer, broth, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce.
• Bring to a boil. At this step you have a choice. You can dump the contents in a crock-pot to slow-cook for about 5-6 hours before you add the veggies, or you can reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally -(I've even done this step in a pressure cooker). Either way, this brings us to the next step.
• Melt butter and add onion, potatoes and carrots. Saute until golden. ** If using russet potatoes see my tip at the bottom and then proceed with the sauteing.** If using any additional veggies, you can add this to the saute mix as well.
• Add sauteed veggies to the stew and let slow-cook for another two hours or so, or if cooking this stove-top let simmer for about another 40 minutes.
• Taste for salt and pepper and garnish with the green herbs.
• **Thickening: If you like a thicker pot liquor, then there are a few ways to do this. You can make a flour and butter roux and add it to the stew. Now a roux-thickened liquid must boil to become thick, so if using a crock pot you'll have to remove liquid out of the crock and boil it with the roux to make a thick gravy and then add that back to the crock pot. Another method is to mix some cornstarch in a 1:2 cornstarch to liquid ratio. You could use the pot liquor for the liquid but you would want to cool it off a bit to avoid lumps. Then boil it all before adding it back to the stew. If you're cooking this stove-top you can just add the cornstarch slurry to the pot and then simmer the whole thing. Two other thickening tricks are to add a bit of oatmeal or tapioca to the mix. Oatmeal does add it's own flavor and texture if you've got thick cut oats, the quick-cook oats will completely dissolve. Instant tapioca pearls dissolve away and about 1.5 tablespoons should do it.
• **Tip for Russet Potatoes**.
• 1/3 c water.
• 1 T. sea salt.
• Peel and chop potatoes. Dissolve the salt in the water and pour over the potatoes in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave, covered, on high for six minutes. This is not intended to cook the potatoes, but they are now ready to use in your recipe. This process really changes the texture and flavor of the potatoes from same-old, same-old into WOW!

Steps:

• Toss beef with salt, pepper and flour to coat. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook coated beef in oil, stirring constantly, until well browned on all sides. Pour in broth and tomato juice, and stir in mixed vegetables, potatoes and cabbage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, until potatoes are soft and meat is fully cooked.